Apparatus for removing debris from streams.



F. CUTTLE.

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEBRIS FROM STREAMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, I91]. 1 26@,$Q9G Patented June 4, 1918.

4 SHEETS SHEET Iv.

Wm 3 Wm EN N Nm \N Hu I m r F. CUTTLE. APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEBRISFROM STREAMS.

1 APPLICATION FILED JUNEZG, 1917. l Q6,3Q9. 4 x Patented J une 4, 1918.

4 SHEETS--SHEET 2- F. CUTTLE, I APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEBRIS FROMSTREAMS.

H k APPLICATION FILED IUNE26, I9 7. inf-1v:

Patented June 4, 1918.4 4 EEEEEEEEEEEE 3- F. CUTTLE.

' APPARATUS FOR REMOVING DEBRIS FROM STREAMS.

APPLICATION FILED 111N526. I917.

Patented June 4:, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

citizen of the United States,

u earns arena orrron ERANGIfi GUTTLE, QF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA,

nrrnnnrus ron nnMovnve DEBRIS FROM STREAMS.

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented June 41, nus.

Application filed .Iune26, 1917; Serial No. 176,980.

This invention relates to. apparatus. for

removing debrisv from streams, such, for instance, as irrigation ditchesor canals and other water supply channels.

An object of this invention is to effectually remove all character ofdebris from flowing streams, either bypower generated by the streamitself or otherwise generated.

Another object of the invention. is to produce a device of thischaracter which will operate; effectively for comparatively long periodsof time with practicall no attention and with minimum liability ofbecomingdisorganized.

Another object is to catch the debrisflowing down the stream and todischarge the debris; to one side of the stream.

Another object is. to avoidthe overflowing of the canal, ditch or banksof the stream in case the apparatus fails to function in removingthedebris.

Another object is. to insure against the accumulation of debris on thescreen to. an eX- tent sufficient to cause harmful fluctuations in thehead of water flowing through the, channel in which the screen islocated.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the subjoined detaildescription.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure l is a side elevation of the inven. tion installed in position inthe fiume of an irrigating ditch or canal, the float chamber being shownin section for clearness of illustration.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation partly in vertical sectionon line indicated by w r-Z2 Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal view; of the rake head, the. track orguidev forthe rake beingshown in cross section.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail partly in section of the. head end of therake, fragments otoneof thetracks or; guides and one of; the.

in the county of Riverside and State screen bars also being shown, andbroken lines indicating the rake teeth and roller in position during theascending movement of' the rake.

Fig. 6 is an elevation looking at the inner side of one of the tracks orguides showing the switch, the head portion of the rake being indicatedin broken lines and a portion of the main rail of the track being brokenaway to contract the view.

ig. 7 is a view analogous to Fig. 6 showing the. switch being operatedby the ascending rake.

Fig. 8 is a fragmental plan view of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental sectional detail on line indicated by m--w, Fig.1.

A channel or ditch indicated at 1 may be the natural channel of aflowing stream or may be an artificially formed channel, and in theinstance shown in the drawings said channel is formed lov the sides 2, 3and bot tom 4 of a fiume which may constitute a portion of an irrigationcanal.

Inserted preferably aslant in the channel 1 at a suitable point is ascreen 5 comprising in the instance shown, see Fig. 2, a number ofclosely spaced grating bars 6 fastened at their forward ends to atransverse bar 7 and fastened at their rear ends to a transverse bar 8.which is provided at its ends with brackets 9. Extending between thebrackets is a roller 10 which is normally supported by a dog or dogs 11fixed to a rock-shaft 12 which is suitably journaled at 13 on the sides2, 8 of the fiume. The shaft .12 is rocked by an arm 14 pivoted at 15 toa pull theouter end of the lever 18 down so as to swing the arm 14upward to move the dog 11 upward out of engagement with the bar 10.

The lever 18 is normally maintained in the retracted position shown inFig. 1 so as to maintain the dog 11 in engagement with the bar 10 by alatch 22 which may be in the form of a lever supporting the weighted endof the lever 18 and pivoted at 23 to a suitable support 2% that in theinstance shown in the drawings is fastened to the side 2 of the flume.The latch 22 when in its normal lever-retaining position is engaged andheld in such position by a detent 25 formed by the free end of an arm 26which is pivoted at 27 to a suitable bracket 28 that in the instanceshown in the drawings is fastened to the side 2 of the flume. The arm 26is provided with an abutment in the form of a pin 29 which engages aslot 30 in an arm 31 pivoted at 32 to an operating arm 33 that in turnis pivoted at 34 on the upper edge of the side 2 of the flume. The slot30 allows for lost motion between the arm 33 and the arm 26, but whenthe arm 33 is swung upward sufliciently far the lower end of the slot 30forms an abutment 35 which engages the pin 29 so as to raise the arm 26out of engagement with the latch 22,

thus permitting the weighted lever 18 to de flect the latch 22sufliciently to allow said arm 18 to swing downward to operate the dog11 as above described.

The arm 33 is provided with a slot 35 engaged by a pin 36 extendinglaterally from the stem 37 of a float 38 which is accommodated in afloat chamber 39 that may be constructed, for instance, on the outerface i of the side 2 of the flume, the interior of the float chambercommunicating with the interior of the flume through a port 40 so thatthe level of water in the float chamber will at all times be maintainedat the same level as the water in the flume. It is clear that when thewater in the flume rises above a certain predetermined level, determinedby the distance between the pin 29 and the abutment 35, the float willbe raised sufliciently to cause the arm 26 to be released from the latch22 so as to allow the lever 18 to operate the dog 11 and thus allow thescreen to fall lengthwise into the bottom portion of the flume.

Means are provided to remove debris that may lodge on the up stream sideof the screen and said means comprises a reciprocating rake indicated ingeneral by the character 41 which may be variously constructed and ispreferably constructed as will now be described. At its head end therake 41 is provided with a transverse head bar 42 having slots 43 inwhich are shiftably mounted the teeth 44 of the rake. The teeth 44 areconnected together so as to act in unison, the connection in thisinstance being in the form of a rod 45 passing through perforations 46of the teeth, there being spacers or washers 47 between adjacent teethso as to keep them in proper spaced relation. The spacing of the teeth44 corresponds with the spacing of the screen bars 7 and said teeth areadapted to engage and move lengthwise of the screen in the inter-barspaces as will be explained more fully hereinafter. The ends of the bar45 are provided with nuts 48 and the bar 45 passes through end brackets48 of the rake. When the nuts 4-8 are turned up tight against thebrackets 49 the washers 47 and teeth will be tightly drawn together.

The cross bar 42 of the rake is provided with furcated arms 50 which arepivoted at 51 to levers 52 fulcrumed at 53 in brackets 54 respectivelythat are fastened to side members 55 of the rake, the forward ends ofsaid side members being fast to the cross bar 42. Each of the levers 52is engaged by a spring 56 which may be fastened at one end to theappropriate bracket 54 and which may have its opposite end bent upbeneath the appropriate lever 52 so as to tend to hold the lower end ofthe lever 52 downward with the teeth 44 projecting through the cross bar42 as in broken lines in Fig. 5. The teeth 44 are limited in theiroutward movement through the cross bar 42 by reason of the bar 45engaging the upper face of the cross bar 42.

The rear ends of the levers 52 are deflected upward at 57, see Fig. 3,and are provided with abutments which may be in the form of rollers 58.It is readily seen that when the abutments 58 are forced downward towardthe screen 6 that the teeth 44 will be moved inward in the slots of thebar 42.

Journaled on the ends of the cross bar 42 of the rake are rollers 59which are adapted to run in forked or U-shaped guide ways or tracksfastened to the inner faces of the sides 2, 3 of the flume. Each ofthese tracks comprises a rearwardly and upwardly inclined guide or rail60, a slightly inclined guideor rail 61 having its rear end spaced fromthe rail 60 sufficiently to admit therebetween the appropriate roller59, and also comprises a switch tongue 62 pivoted at 63 to the rail 61and adapted to normally bridge across the space between the rear end ofthe rail 61 and the adjacent portion of the rail 60. These rails 60, 61and switch tongues 62 may be of any suitable construction and in thedrawings are shown as being formed of angle irons. The lower ends of therails 60 substantially rest on the bottom 4 of the flume and the upperends of said rails are above the level of the top of the flume. Therails 61 are disposed near the upper edges of the flame.

From the foregoing it is now clear that when the rake 41 is drawn upwardthe teeth 44 will engage in the interscreen-bar spaces and that therollers 59 of the rake will roll along the rails 60. When the rake isdrawn upward sufficiently far the rollers 59 will pass between theswitch tongues 62 and the rails 60 and raise said switch tongues asclearly shown in Fig. 7. When the rollers 59 pass upward beyond the rearends of the switch tongues 62 said switch tongues will fall by force of"gravity or suitable spring essees 1 6 so as; to bridge the spacesbetween the rails,- 60 and the, rails 61. If now the rake.-

be lowered, it is clear that tl1e1rol1ersf59 will ride upon the switchtongues 62: and

. forward along the rails 61 until the forward ends of said rails arereached, whereupon the rollers 59"Wl1l leave the rails 61 and droptoward the bottom of the flame thus allowing the rake to. fall; intothe; position shown in High of the, drawings.

verse. member 64h which forms the, double function of a float and animpact member. This member 6% may be in the form of-Ea flat boardconnected by resilient arms 65, to the rake side members When. the rake.drops the member 64 will strike the water in the flume so. as to retardor check by im pact the descent f the rake.v The member 64 being a floatwill, also tend to. buoy the lower end of the rake as it descends towardhe o tom of the flame, but of co r e he buoyancy of the member 64, isovercome by the weight of the rake which sinks to, raking position. a

There may also be provided as shown in the drawings springs 66fastenedto the bottom of the fiunie h ing the rearends spaced away fromsaid bottom so as ina measure to stop the descent of the rake withouttoo great shock when it reaches the bot om of. he flame,

If the, rake. 4:1 be moved upward so as to bring the teeth 4,4; beyondthe rear end of thescreen 6, the rollers 58 will engage abutments 6'?which, in he nst nce shown in he dra ings, are formed f angle ir n1anected' by brackets 68 to a cross bar 69that is supported bystandards. 70 fastened to the sides of the flnme. As the rollers 58 passfrom the forward ends to the rear ends of the, abutments 67, the rollersare gradually depressed so as to[ force the teeth 15L inward thus tocause stri ping of the teeth of any debris that will not readily fallfrom the teeth when said teeth have passed beyond the rear end of thescreen. When the rollers 58 run rearward past therear ends of theabutments 67 the teeth 44 will be snapped outward again by the action ofthe springs 56 so that if, after the stripping; motion of the teeththere should be any debrisremaining thereon it would be. jarred loose bythe quick return of the teeth caused by the ac ion of th springs.

Th r ke .1 i ciproca e by any sui ble operating means and it; isvunderstood that e nvention in i s broader aspect is not limited to theoperating means Shown in the drawings, and about to be described indetail he e m s may be constru ed as f llows;

The rear endsOf the sides 55 of the rake are; pivoted at 71 to theforward ends of arms72 which pivotally engage at their rear ends a rod 73; that is connected at its, oppositeends to endless chains 741 roveraround sprocket wheels 75, 76, the sprocket wheels 75, being mounted onstub shafts 77 supported on the standards 70, and the sprocket wheels 76being mounted on stub shafts 781 which are supported-onlongitudinalmembers 79 fastened to the standards 70, 80 and to brace members 81. Thestandards 89ers fastened to the sides of theflume and" the braces 81 arefastened to the standards 7 0* The stub shafts 78 are driven by sprocketwheels 82 mounted on said shafts, said sprocket wheels being in turndriven by sprocket chains 83 rove around sprocket wheels 8% mounted on ashaft 85 which is jonrnaled at 86 on the.

sides of the flame. The shaft 85 is connected by gears 87, 88 to a shaft89 which is also journaled at 90 On the sides of the fiume. The shaft89' is provided with. a sprocket wheel 91 driven by a sprocket chain 92from a sprocket wheel 93 on a shaft 94: of a water wheel of which thepaddles are shown at 95. Thus the water flowing through the flume afterpassing the screen 5 turns the water wheel and causes the reciprocationof the rake and the, inward shifting of the teeth of the rake asexplained above. The advantageof having the water wheel on the downstream side of the screen is that it insures against debris engaging andinterfering with winding of the chains 99 when it is desired to raisethe water wheel out of the stream, of water to stop the operation of theappa ratus.

Guides are provided for the upper or rear ends of the sides 55 of therake and the drawings the shaft 71 reciprocates in guide ways; 104formed by the spaces between the members 7 9 and other members 1075.which are fastened to the standards 7 0, 80. and the braces 81- In thedrawings the members 79 and 105 are. formed of wooden supporting stripswith angle-iron facing strips fastened to the supporting strips but saidmembers. may be otherwise constructed for the purpose in view d From theforegoing it is clear that when the rake is reciprocated so as to moveup the rails 60 d down the rails 61 the. rake i swing 011 the pivot 71,and also, that the arms lower runs and from said lower runs to the upperruns.

When the screen 6 is in position for use, as in solid lines in Fig. 3,its rear end is adjacent a transversely disposed conveyer of anysuitable type, for example, of the scraper type comprising cables orchains 106 and scrapers or slats 107, said conveyer being provided witha bevel gear 108 meshing with a bevel gear 109 on a shaft 110 which isprovided with a sprocket chain 111 rove around a sprocket wheel 112mounted on the shaft 77 The space between the conveyer and the rear endof the screen 6 is bridged by a member 113. The abutment 67 is sopositioned that the teeth a l of the rake will not be moved intostripping position until said teeth have passed rearward of the rearedge of the member 113.

In practical operation the shafts 78 will be driven by suitable power tocause the shafts 74: to travel in the direction of the arrow a in Fig.3. In the drawings, with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 1, thewater wheel will be turned in the direction of the arrow 6, Fig. 1, bywater flowing in the flume in the direction of the arrow 0.

Assuming that the various operative parts are in the positions shown inFig. 3, the rod 73 will be moved rearward by the upper run of the chains7 4 so as to draw the rake upward and rearward with its rollers 59 inc0ntact with the rails 60. During this upward movement of the rakewhatever debris has lodged against the up stream side of the screen 6will'be raked upward and rearward by the raking action of the teeth andsaid debris will be deposited in the transverse conveyer 106, 107. Inthe upward movement of the rake when the rollers 58 reach the abutments67, said abutment will cause depression of the rollers so as to raisethe forward ends of the levers 52 to draw the teeth 44 inward throughthe slots in the rake bar 42 thus stripping any debris lodged betweenthe teeth therefrom.

When the rod 71 has reached the rear end of the upper run of the chains74:, it starts on its return or lower run of the chains thus backing therollers 59 over the switch tongues 62 and forward along the rails 61.After reaching the forward ends of the rails 61 the rollers 59 roll fromsaid ends and the rake swings downward around the pivot 71, the member64: and springs 66 tending to ease the descent of the rake as explainedabove. The rake is now in position ready for another up stroke and therake thus moves in a triangular path as long as power is applied to theshafts 77.

The debris discharged by the rake 11 into the conveyer 106, 107 iscarried by said conveyer to one side of the flume or to any desiredlocation and discharged.

Thus it is clear that certain broad featuresof this invention are thecollapsible screen, the transverse discharging conveyer in combinationwith means to collect debris and discharge it into the transverseconveyer, and a reciprocating rake adapted to rake the debris from thechannel, and alsr the rake with self-cleaning teeth.

I claim:

1. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblyinserted in said channel to catch debris, means to hold the screenagainst collapsing, means operative by raising of the water to apredetermined level to release the screen-holding means, and meansoperating "to move the debris from the screen and to discharge itoutside of said channel.

2. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,and means operative by.

raising of the water to a predetermined level to release thescreen-holding means to allow the screen to collapse.

3. The combination with a channel for. water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel to catch debris, means to hold mined level torelease the screen holding means, a conveyer extending from adjacent oneend of the screen to one s1de of the channel, means to operate theconveyer, andmeans to move debris from the screen to the conveyer.

5. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted on said channel, means to hold the screen in uncollapsedposition to catch debris, a conveyer extending from adjacent the screenwhen said screen is in uncollapsed position to one side of the channel,means to operate the conveyer, means to move debris from the screen tothe conveyer, and means operative by raising of the water to apredetermined level to release the screen-holding means to allow thescreen to collapse.

6. The combination with a channel for water, of means operating toremove debris from the water to position outside of the channel, saidmeans including a collapsible screen, means to hold the screen againstcollapsing, and means operative by raising of the water to apredetermined level to release the screen holding means.

7. The combination with a channel for Water, of means operative byflowing of the water to remove debris from the water to position outsideof the channel, said means including a collapsible screen, means to holdthe screen against collapsing, and means operative by raising of thewater to a predetermined level to release the screen holding means.

8. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, and means operative by flowing of thewater to remove debris from the screen and to discharge said debris toposition outside of the channel.

9. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the Water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, and reciprocating means to removedebris from said screen.

10. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the Water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, a rake movable along the screen, andmeans to move the rake.

11. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, a rake movable along the screen, andmeans operatively connected with the rake outside of the channel to movesaid rake.

12. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, a rake, means to move the rake upwardalong the screen and downward spaced apart from the screen.

13. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, means to hold the screen against collapsing,means operative by raising of the water to a predetermined level torelease the screen holding means, a rake, means to reciprocate the rake,means to guide the rake along the screen on the rearward movement ofsaid rake, and means to guide the rake away from the screen on theforward movement of said rake.

14;. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen mounted insaid channel,

an endless chain, means to drive the endless chain, and a rake connectedwith the chain and reciprocated thereby along the screen when the chainis driven.

15. The combination with a channel for water, of a screenmounted in saidchannel, means collapsibly inserted in said channel to rake debris fromthe screen, means to hold the screen against collapsing, means operativeby raising of the water to a predetermined level to throw the screenholding means out of commission, and means to carry away from thechannel the debris thus raked from the screen.

16. The combination with a channel for Water, of a screen mounted insaid channel, a bar extending transversely of the screen, means to movethe bar along the screen, teeth shiftably mounted in said bar, and meansoperative when the bar has reached a predetermined position to move theteeth inward of the bar to strip debris from said teeth.

17. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen mounted insaid channel, a bar extending transversely of the screen, means to movethe bar along the screen, teeth shiftably mounted in said bar, meansoperative when the bar has reached a predetermined position to graduallymove the teeth inward of the bar and to suddenly release said teeth, andspring means to snap the teeth out as soon as they are released.

18. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen mounted aslantin said channel, a rake, forked guides for the rake head, means tooperate the rake to cause the head thereof to move from the outer end ofone fork of each guide to the outer end of the other fork of each guideand therefrom, and means to check the fall of the rake head when itleaves the last named forks.

19. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel, a float chamber communicating with the channel,a float mounted in said chamber, means to hold the screen againstcollapsing, and means operative by raising of the float to apredetermined level to throw the screen-holding means out of commission.

20. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen mounted insaid channel to catch debris, a bar extending transversely of thescreen, means to move the bar along the screen, teeth shiftably mountedin the bar, a lever connected with the teeth and movable with the bar,and means engageable with the lever when the bar is moved beyond thescreen to shift the teeth.

21. The combination with a channel for water, of a screen collapsiblymounted in said channel to catch debris, and means operative by rise oflevel of the water when the screen becomes clogged with debris 'to causecollapsing of the -screen to prevent of the bar at a predetermined partof its in damming of the Water. stroke to move the teeth up in theslots.

22. The combination with a channel for Signed at Riverside, California,this 20th Water, of a ficreen rriounteld in said cklliailllnjel, day ofJune, 1917. a cross ar avin s ots t erein teet s i tably mounted intheslots, means to nor- FRANCIS OUTTLE' mally hold the teeth down in theslots, i/Vitnesses: means to reciprocate the bar across the GEORGE H.HILES, screen, and means operative by movement A. F. SOHMIDTBAUER.

Copies of thin patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

